Multitasking or mass A.D.D by Ellen Goodman.

Faith woyee

Multitasking or mass A.D.D by Ellen Goodman.

In the article “Multi-tasking or Mass ADD,??” Ellen Goodman states that multitasking, which simply means doing two or more things at once, makes busy people believe that they would be considered more efficient, productive, and more successful in either the workplace or in their everyday lives. We live in a time today where people are so busy with the hustle and bustle of their daily lives that they are trying to find faster ways to get things done. However, according to Goodman, there are many downsides to multi-tasking. Goodman, who is a Pulitzer Prize –winning columnist, argues that multi-tasking can come with a high price.  

While some forms of multi-tasking may give a small advantage to a very small number of people, depending on what the situation is, most people, although they may not realize it at first, are terrible at multi-tasking. Many times, when people attempt to multi-task, they end up not giving their full attention to any of the tasks they are trying to accomplish. By attempting to get more than one thing done at a given time, for the sake of getting things accomplished more quickly, more often than not all the tasks being worked on will suffer greatly. According to Goodman’s article, studies have proven that the quality of each individual task will indeed suffer, and while these tasks may be finished more quickly, the bottom line is that the work being done will have an amateurish quality to it.

 In my opinion, when someone accomplishes one task at a time, a greater amount of professionalism will be shown in the work being completed. Yes, it may take a little longer than multi-tasking, but I feel that, especially in the workplace environment, that a good professional job would go a longer way in the eyes of management than something that is just thrown together for the sake of getting it done quickly.

Another example of bad multi-tasking is when I am talking to someone on the phone and they would put me on hold to take a call from another party, and then I am forced to wait for an unknown length of time. It gives me feeling that the other person calling is more important than me. I find that rude and disrespectful.  If something like this would happen in the workplace, it could prove to be quite the giant disaster! More than one conversation, with two or more clients, for example, could lead to forgetting important details which are relevant to any one of the multiple conversations, which in turn could lead to a loss in business as well as put a damper on customer relations.

I feel, after reading Ellen Goodman’s’ article, while multitasking may be a bad thing, it could be a useful tool when a person may have a lot of work to do in a small amount of time. In my opinion, multi-tasking should only be used when the quality of the work involved is second to the amount of time needed to complete the amount of tasks assigned. I am sure that in the workplace, with everything going on at a fast paced environment, sometimes, but not always, multi-tasking could be used successfully. But, when quality of work takes first place over getting something done quickly, I feel that a person should complete only one thing at a time. Being a professional in completing assigned tasks will always show that a worker cares about the work being done. And I will always feel that quality of work, not quantity, is second to none.